Rainy Days and Mondays
by A Spot of Bother
Summary: AU. A diner, some coffee, a raging storm and a dripping redhead. Roxas always did hate Mondays.


(A/N): For NightimeRoseOX, because she's been insanely supportive since I joined, and because her comment about writing the characters doing nothing at all inspired this one shot. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Nope.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Roxas sighed and drummed his fingers against the table, scowling out at the rain pounding against the pavement. It was his personal belief that Mondays existed for the sole purpose of being the most depressing day of the week, and this Monday was certainly living up to that claim.

Tearing his eyes away from the diner window with a growl, he glared at the coffee cup on the table in front of him as if the entire situation were its fault. Well, he couldn't get a hold of Namine, so he needed to blame _something_ for the way his day was turning out.

Roxas had carefully arranged his schedule when he'd been accepted at RGU, guaranteeing he had no Monday morning classes. It hadn't been easy, but he'd been able to do it. So of course Namine had called him that morning, needing him to make the short trip back home to help her move some furniture into her new apartment. Roxas had agreed – with only a minimal amount of grumbling on his part – but when he'd walked the block from the bus stop and arrived at Namine's house, no one had been home. He'd stood on her step like an idiot for about ten minutes, repeatedly pressing the bell and listening to it ring in the empty house. He'd tried her cell, but no one answered. Finally, with a sneaking suspicion that none of this would've happened it if hadn't been Monday, he'd walked the three blocks to the Way to Dawn, the 24-hour diner he and his friends had practically _lived_ at during high school.

He'd promised himself he was only going to sit there until Namine called him, but one hour had stretched into two, and before he realized it Roxas had ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee, handing over money he knew he'd need for the bus fare back to the campus. Roxas scowled as he took a sip of his coffee, tapping a finger irritably against the table. He'd just make Namine give him a ride – at this point she owed him.

At some point between the waiting and the sandwich and the coffee, it had begun to rain – the sky had clouded over, lightening had forked across the heavens, and water had begun to pour from the sky in about the space of ten minutes. Roxas hated autumn storms.

So now, here he was, slumped over a two-person booth, nursing his third cup of coffee as he waited for the rain to stop or Namine to call him, not holding out much hope for either occurrence.

The bell over the door jingled violently as someone stumbled in, gripping a handful of papers over their head in a pathetic attempt to keep from getting wet. The newcomer paused inside the door, shaking the water out of his hair, and Roxas's eyebrows rose at the impossibly red hue of the guy's spikes. Lightening arced across the sky again, quickly followed by a crack of thunder, and Roxas turned his attention back out the window.

The daylight had darkened to twilight, the streetlights flickering on up and down the sidewalk as the few people left on the street hurried for shelter. Roxas sighed heavily. It looked like he'd be stuck here for a while.

"Can I sit here?"

Roxas glanced up to find the bedraggled redhead standing over him, pointing at the seat across the table from Roxas. Roxas arched an eyebrow.

"Why?"

The redhead narrowed jade-green eyes before he shrugged, sweeping his arm back over the rest of the diner. "Because there's nowhere else to sit," he grumbled, sounding exasperated. Roxas leaned around him and blinked. The diner had filled considerably since he'd come in – there really wasn't an open seat that he could see. Shrugging, he took another sip of his coffee.

"Fine."

The redhead nodded in appreciation, sliding into the vinyl booth, carefully separating the sopping wet pages and spreading them across the chipped table. Roxas squinted, trying to make out the illegible type. "What the heck is that?"

The redhead sighed heavily, running a hand through his damp hair. "It _was _my essay on Dickinson," he grumbled. Roxas winced.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he muttered, gazing at the ruined pages. The redhead shrugged.

"It wasn't very good anyway," he mumbled, glaring at the paper. "I don't like poetry." He glanced out the window. "Doesn't matter," he smirked, watching the lightening reflect off the puddles on the sidewalk. "I've missed the damn class by now, anyway."

Roxas nodded distractedly, glancing at his watch with a frown. He'd been in this stupid diner for almost four hours. He was gonna miss his biology lab if this kept up.

"So, did you get stuck in here because of the rain?"

Roxas glanced up, somewhat surprised to find the redhead watching him, leaning his elbows on the table. Roxas shook his head. "No." There was a short silence as the other boy raised his eyebrows at him expectantly.

"So…how did you get stuck here?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Look –"

"Axel," the redhead supplied, grinning crookedly.

"– Axel," Roxas growled, irritated at the interruption, "I really don't wanna talk about it now, ok?"

Axel snorted at him. "What the hell else do you suggest we do?" he asked, gesturing out the window. As if to illustrate his point, a loud peal of thunder shook the glass.

Roxas slumped over a little farther, resting his head in his hands. "If you _must_ know," he groaned, "I came down to help a friend move her furniture, and I've been stuck in this stupid diner because I don't have the money to get a bus back up to campus."

"You go to RGU?" Axel asked, looking surprised. Roxas scowled at him, dragging his fingers through his hair.

"I'm a freshman," he muttered.

"Oh." Axel cocked an eyebrow at him. "Dorm rat?" Roxas nodded, drumming his fingers against the table as he glared back out at the storm. "I commute," Axel offered, grabbing a fistful of napkins from the dispenser and dabbing at his wet report.

"That's great," Roxas muttered, frowning down at his watch again. Axel scowled at him.

"Are you always this much of an ass…what's your name?"

"Roxas."

"Roxas. Are you always this much of an ass, Roxas?" Axel asked sourly, piling the damp napkins at the end of the table. Roxas smirked.

"If I said yes would you leave me alone?" He cocked an eyebrow at the redhead, reaching for his cup of coffee. Axel regarded him narrowly before he threw his head back and laughed. It was a rough sound, but Roxas liked it.

"I like you, kid," Axel chuckled, running his fingers through his hair.

"So why are _you_ here?" Roxas asked, ignoring the redhead's last statement. Axel smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, I commute up to campus, yeah? Only my car's in the shop, so my friend Larxene was supposed to give me a ride, but she called me at the last minute – _big_ emergency, couldn't possibly make it out, blah, blah, blah. Stupid bitch," he grinned. "I could _hear_ her damn boyfriend in the background."

"Sucks for you," Roxas smirked. Axel rolled his eyes at him.

"Has anyone ever told you you have a shitty personality?"

"So stop talking to me," Roxas fired back, rolling his eyes as another crooked smile spread across Axel's face.

"Well there's not a whole hell of a lot else to do at the moment," Axel shrugged. Roxas huffed at him, a comfortable silence settling between them as a harried-looking waitress finally hurried up them, apologizing profusely for the wait as she took Axel's order and brought a fresh cup of coffee for Roxas. "How many of those have you had?" Axel asked, dipping his head at Roxas's cup. Roxas shrugged.

"Four?"

Axel rolled his eyes. "You're gonna go into shock," he muttered. Roxas scowled and took a large gulp to spite him. "Fine, be that way," Axel sighed, grinning. "But I'm not dragging your ass to the emergency room – I'll let you twitch on the floor."

Roxas didn't deign to respond, and they endured another short silence until Axel sighed noisily. "Well this is boring," he grumbled. "Ask me a question." Roxas raised an eyebrow at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Ask me a question."

Roxas swiped a piece of his toast as his order arrived, staring at him thoughtfully. "Ok," he mumbled around the food. "What's with the makeup?"

Axel spluttered indignantly. "What makeup?" he demanded, hands waving wildly in the air. Roxas shrugged, a small grin stealing its way across his lips as he gestured at Axel's cheeks.

"Those things – those triangles," he muttered, grinning as Axel's expression became even more aggravated.

"Those are _tattoos_, dumb ass!" the redhead cried, jabbing a finger under Roxas's nose. "Are you seriously –" He broke off as he took in Roxas's choked laughter. Sitting back with a groan, he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his face away from Roxas. "You are an _asshole_," he growled, but Roxas didn't miss the smirk tugging at his lips.

"You're breaking my heart," Roxas scoffed. Axel turned and glared at him before he abruptly picked up a piece of toast and flung it at Roxas's face.

"Stupid little shit," he muttered, grinning. Roxas rolled his eyes as he wiped the butter off his cheek.

"Real mature," he said snidely. The redhead grinned widely.

"Bite me, Rox. Bite me."

Before Roxas could respond, his cell phone sounded. Digging it out of his pocket in confusion, he flipped it open and brought it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Roxas?"

"_Namine_?" The girl's voice was small and distorted, and Roxas plugged a finger into his other ear. "Namine, where are you calling from?" He heard the pale blonde sigh heavily before she answered.

"Roxas, I'm so sorry about today," she began, sounding tired. "My car stalled while I was out shopping with Olette, and we've been stuck in the garage for three hours now, and my phone was dead, but they let me charge it, but then I couldn't get a signal with the storm –"

"Are you ok?" Roxas interrupted. "I mean, you didn't get in an accident or anything?"

"We're fine," Namine sighed. "They said it had something to do with the battery, or – I don't know, they just asked if we wanted them to fix it today, and we've been stuck here waiting for them to finish. Can – can you get back up to campus by yourself?"

Roxas hesitated for a second before he heaved a silent sigh. "Yeah," he muttered. "Yeah, I'll just take the bus."

"Ok." Namine sounded relieved, and Roxas grinned a little into the phone. "Just – I really am sorry, Roxas."

"Don't worry about it," Roxas insisted. He said goodbye and flipped the phone closed, dragging a hand through his hair as he dropped it back into his pocket.

"The bus?"

Roxas looked up to find Axel cocking an eyebrow at him. "The bus that you don't have money for?"

"Shut up," Roxas muttered, massaging his temples. "What was I supposed to say? I'll never make it in time for my lab, anyway."

"Uh-huh." Axel shoveled another forkful of pancakes into his mouth, wiping the syrup off his lips thoughtfully. "Gimme a minute, Roxas."

Roxas frowned at him in confusion as Axel dug his own cell out of his pocket, punching in a number quickly and bringing it to his ear as he tossed back a glass of orange juice. "Larxene? Yeah, it's me – don't you hang up the phone, you – I gave you a good _hour_ for your little 'emergency' – tell Marluxia to zip it up and get the hell over here. I need a ride, _now_." Axel grinned widely at something Larxene screeched at him. "Yeah, yeah, you wish you _could_, Larxene. See you in twenty."

Axel flipped the phone closed, grinning smugly at Roxas. "I just got you your ride," he chuckled. Roxas eyed him narrowly.

"She sounds like a lunatic," he muttered. Axel smirked.

"Well, yeah," he muttered, shrugging good-naturedly. He pushed his plate over to Roxas, gathering the wrinkled pages of his report and trying to shuffle them back into order. "You have a computer or something in your room?" he asked. Roxas nodded.

"Why?"

"Well, obviously, I need to re-type this thing," Axel sighed, scratching at his temple as he regarded his paper with a doleful expression. "What about a roommate?" Roxas narrowed his eyes at him.

"Whoa, whoa – what the hell? You think getting me a ride means you get to fucking move in?" Axel sighed at him, shaking his head.

"Listen, Roxas, you do _not_ want to be alone in the car with Larxene right now. And there is no way in hell she'll let me ride back with her in the mood she's in. So. I will be stuck up on the damn campus with no money and no car. Would it kill you to let me crash at your place for a night?" Roxas's eyes narrowed even farther.

"Possibly," he grumbled.

"Do you remember the bit about you having a shitty attitude?" Axel queried, smirking at him. "Because you're really proving me right, here."

"Are you always this much of an ass, Axel?" Roxas scowled, throwing the redhead's words back at him. Axel threw his head back and laughed.

"Pretty much," he chuckled. He grinned at Roxas, leaning forward. "So…what's it gonna be? Are you seriously going to let me spend the night in the _commons_?"

"It would serve you right," Roxas grumbled, dragging a hand through his hair. Axel only smirked at him. "_Fine_," Roxas groaned. "One night. You type up your damn paper. You get the top bunk. You're _gone_ before I'm up, got it?"

Axel nodded, sitting back. He glanced out the window. "Hey," he grinned, gesturing at the street. "It stopped raining."

Roxas huffed at him, unable to quell the grin spreading across his lips. "That's great," he mumbled. "That's just great, Axel."


End file.
